Chapter 18: Heart-to-Heart Talk

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Even more outrageous, the man turned around and began rummaging through the cupboards and drawers. He took all the fruit and food from Zhao Xiangjun’s refrigerator, stuffed them into bags, and said to the two children, “Look, Daddy got you lots of snacks!”

Chen Xiao could not help feeling sorry for Zhao Xiangjun. Having a brother like that was truly unfortunate.

It was nearly ten o’clock. A girl—especially one as beautiful as Zhao Xiangjun—was never entirely safe at such an hour.

Thinking of how she had mistaken him for a dirt-poor man obsessed with saving face, yet had paid his property fees, covered his phone bill, helped him buy clothes, and paid for his breakfast, Chen Xiao felt a surge of tenderness toward this kind-hearted woman whose heart was warm despite her cool exterior.

He did not return to his apartment. Instead, he went downstairs to look for Zhao Xiangjun.

She had not gone far. She was strolling slowly toward the entrance of the residential compound by herself. Chen Xiao followed at a distance without going up to offer any sort of consolation.

He accidentally stepped on a branch. Zhao Xiangjun turned around in alarm, but when she saw that it was Chen Xiao, her tense, raised shoulders slowly relaxed. She walked to the flower bed ahead, took out a tissue, wiped down a bench, and sat.

Since she had seen him, Chen Xiao walked over as well.

“Why do you like following people so much?” she asked, then remembered that when they had first met, he had not really been following her. She had simply misunderstood him.

“Why do you like misunderstanding me so much?” Chen Xiao asked with a smile as he sat down beside her.

Unused to having a man sitting so close, she shifted to the side, angling her body away from him and keeping as much distance as possible.

“Am I really that frightening?” Chen Xiao asked, genuinely wounded.

“I’m not used to having anyone beside me.”

Chen Xiao realized once again that she was, in fact, desperately lacking in any sense of security.

“Why did you follow me?” Zhao Xiangjun asked quietly.

“It’s late at night, and you’re a beautiful girl. Naturally, people worry about you.”

“You’re far too compassionate. I’m not an idiot. Would I go somewhere unsafe?”

Chen Xiao looked at her, silently complaining to himself. She accused others of having too much compassion, yet had she ever looked in a mirror?

“No one deliberately goes somewhere unsafe, but whether a place is safe isn’t always something you can control.”

Zhao Xiangjun gave a self-mocking smile. “I’ve made it through all these years without anything happening to me.”

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Chen Xiao did not want to argue with her about it, so he changed the subject. “Who are the two children in your apartment?”

“My brother’s children. They live in Happiness Garden, a resettlement housing complex. Whenever I have a day off, he brings them over and I look after them for the day.”

Chen Xiao was astonished. “What kind of day off is that? Taking care of children at home is more exhausting than going to work.”

“If I look after them for a day, my parents get to rest,” Zhao Xiangjun said, as though it were only natural.

Chen Xiao gazed at her breathtaking profile. Under the dim streetlights, she looked even more captivating. Warmth spread through his heart. A carefree man like him was feeling, for the first time, that a girl could inspire such deep concern and affection.

“Your parents must dote on you.”

Zhao Xiangjun smiled. “However much they dote on me, it can’t compare with how they dote on their son.”

“What age are we living in? People still think that way?”

“We don’t understand the older generation—you and I alike. It’s all right, though. I don’t need anyone to dote on me. I can take care of myself.”

“I noticed that you still give your family living expenses every month?”

Zhao Xiangjun shot him a sideways glance. “I give them five thousand yuan every month, so my parents won’t have to endure humiliation in his household.”

“Humiliation in their own son’s home?” Chen Xiao found it difficult to accept.

“Yes. My father works away from home, while my mother helps look after the children in his household. She doesn’t have a job, so she has no income.”

“She takes care of his two children and still gets looked down on for not earning money?” Chen Xiao thought of her brother and felt that the description fit him perfectly.

“That’s why, living in a family like this, I often wonder what the meaning of family really is. If this is what family means, I think I’d rather be alone.”

“That’s your brother’s family, not every family. Think about it—your parents couldn’t have been like that when you were little.”

Zhao Xiangjun gave a soft laugh. “When I was young, my parents fought three times a day. Blood would often flow from upstairs to downstairs along the staircase. Later, my father left to work elsewhere, and my mother spent every day in a mahjong parlor, leaving me crouched beneath a table there.”

Chen Xiao frowned deeply. It was hard to imagine how terrible life must have been in a family like that.

“When I was ten, I fell ill and nearly died. My mother was still playing mahjong at the parlor. If my grandmother hadn’t traveled a long way to find a doctor, I wouldn’t be here today.”

“Do you hate them?”

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“What would be the point of hating them? They’re still my parents. Without them, I wouldn’t exist. Besides, they’re much better now. They don’t fight anymore, and they hardly ever go to the mahjong parlor.”

“All right, enough about that. Chen Xiao, you’re actually a pretty decent person, and your values are in the right place. You have to keep working hard and make more money! I’m still waiting for you to pay me back the two thousand yuan once you get your commission. I’m desperately poor!”

“You’re desperately poor? You deserve it. Who told you to be so generous despite being broke and always paying for other people?”

Puffing out her cheeks playfully, Zhao Xiangjun said, “Who wants to be generously poor? Aren’t you even poorer? You earn less than my mother. Hee hee…”

Chen Xiao knew exactly what she meant. She thought he earned a monthly salary of four thousand yuan, while her mother received five thousand yuan in living expenses each month. It was rare to see Zhao Xiangjun smile, and she looked beautiful when she did.

“Actually, I really do have money!”

Zhao Xiangjun looked at him with open disdain. “Could you stop bringing that up? I know you have money. You have twelve yuan and eighty cents. Now put away that masculine pride of yours.”

Fine. Chen Xiao could not be bothered to explain anymore. Since it was impossible to make her understand, he simply said, “All right, then. Once I have money, I’ll support you and repay you properly.”

Zhao Xiangjun assumed he was joking. “You mean you want me to support you first, then? You’re just drawing me another empty promise.”

Then she added wistfully, “Chen Xiao, what if I found someone to keep me? Then I’d have enough money to support you. How does that sound?”

“Check your head and see if you can hear water sloshing around inside.”

Zhao Xiangjun looked puzzled. “What do you mean?”

“You’ve got water in your brain!”

“Hmph…” Zhao Xiangjun puffed out her cheeks. “Over the years, lots of people have tried to persuade me. I know that if I just nodded, I’d never have to suffer like this again. But I can’t help it—I just can’t do it. I can’t accept that kind of life.”

Chen Xiao looked at her with sympathy. “What about me? Could you perhaps force yourself to accept me?”

Zhao Xiangjun laughed. “You’d better support yourself first. And listen, don’t get any ideas about me. I’m one person earning money while countless people spend it, and I’m the only one who never gets to spend any of it. If one more person starts living off me, I might as well go hang myself!”

Only then did Chen Xiao take a proper look at what she was wearing. Perhaps because she was so stunning, anything looked good on her at first glance. But upon closer inspection, he noticed that all her clothes were quite ordinary, with no recognizable brands at all. Unlike other girls, she wore no gold or silver jewelry, and even her phone was already two years out of date.